Little One
by Darling Drusilla
Summary: River has never been a normal human girl and she has Always heard voices. A visit between a girl and her grandmother.
1. Chapter 1

This is part of my Jack of Hearts Universe and may be read at any time _before_ Riddick shows up.

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><p>"River, come here."<p>

The young girl left her puzzle behind as Shirah Tam called her outside. Her mother's voice was a distant sound from within her grandmother's arms. The scent of soil and strength radiated from the woman, the scent of soap and rain and something that was so completely her grandmother. She was safe with her grandmother, nothing in the verse could touch her inside of the Furyan woman's arms, not even her mother or the scathing emotions that came off of her father. When River was with her grandmother, she could feel a buzz in her very being, the call of like to like. Simon and Reagan and her father didn't have it; it was theirs alone.

"Have you been practicing little one?" Shirah pulled back to look her in the eyes, her eyes shimmered an icy blue in the dim light of the evening. It matched the dress she wore. Steel blue silk befitting a queen or a goddess of Greece that was. She was smiling ever so faintly and ever so sadly.

"I have...but, my legs are too little to copy the steps exactly." River hadn't disappointed her grandmother yet, but she had no intention of letting herself fall into Simon's category. Men were inferior creatures. This was known.

"It is not just about precision little one. It is about the sound of Furya running through our veins."

"I've never been home though. Reagan says it is nothing but a wasteland and she refuses to let me go."

"Your mother is weak of soul and mind. It surprises me she did not die in the birthing bed." Shirah led River to a bench and sat down. "Have I told you about the high council?"

River nodded as she climbed up beside the older woman. Regan had put her into a dress more befitting a doll. The lace caught under her knees and itched her skin. "Please tell me again."

"Alright." Shirah was smiling true. "Thousands of years ago, when man first terraformed Furya, the male settlers were in charge of our society. They instilled the laws of Earth-that-was and sought to subject the women to the laws your mother adheres so strictly too."

"Except they were worse," River interrupted. "They wanted the women to adhere to the ancient laws."

"Do you remember the ancient laws?" River nodded, listing them as her grandmother started finger combing River's hair. "Exactly. Well, the day the men tried to subject the women to their laws, a great and terrible disaster struck. A plague spread across the planet, targeting the male settlers."

"Only the women and the male newly born survived, they were changed by the plague."

"Why don't you tell me what happened next then?" Shirah was smiling down at her, making River sit up straighter.

"The plague altered the genetic structure of the survivors. Except it wasn't' a plague, it was a microscopic species." Shirah nodded, continuing to run her fingers through River's hair. "The spirits of Furya they were called. They had been attempting to form a symbiosis with the settlers, but the men had secretly been taking antibiotics since the beginning."

"Why is that little one?" She was braiding River's hair now.

"The men wanted to trick the women into thinking they were blessed. But it was the women who were blessed in the end. The Spirits of Furya gifted the settlers with enhanced physical abilities in exchange for a home. Ever since that day, only a Furyan Woman can awaken the Spirits or gift them to her children."

"And because of that event, women came to rule our home planet." Shirah's voice was proud and her touch was comforting.

"Grandmother?" River asked some moments later. The older woman had braided most of River's hair. Reagan's flowers had been plucked from the earth and scattered throughout the braids.

"Yes little one?"

"How come the Spirits are awake inside of me? You didn't let them into my father when he was born, so how did the get into my bloodstream?"

"I did let them into your father," Shirah explained. She had been awaiting this question for some time. "But, and this is very important, the Spirits and I both agreed that your father should only carry them until such a time as he sired a girl."

"You can talk with them?" River had heard the rest of the story, but the idea that she could communicate with the creatures inside of her was amazing! "How?"

"You dream," Shirah explained. "The Spirits speak with us in our dreams. Sometimes, in times of dire need, they aid us in our waking moments."

"I would like to speak with them tonight," River nodded, mostly to herself. "I have questions."

"You always have questions little one. But they will not speak to you with words River. You must learn to read the images and the feelings they give you. The Spirits are your closest ally and the only thing you can truly trust in this universe. They will never steer you wrong."


	2. Chapter 2

Shirah lifted the child in her arms towards the sky. She was beautiful. Little River Tam would rage one day, the spirits roaring in her veins as she danced Their dance. This room was not made for a Furyan woman, it was made for dolls and soft minded creatures suited to brothels. It was made for Reagan, not River.

"Mother."

Gabriel was standing in the doorway, shocked to see his mother after so many years.

"Your wife finally did something right," Shirah smiled at the infant. Little River was gurgling in delight. "She's beautiful."

Gabriel moved closer to his mother, stopping just out of her reach. When Shirah glanced at him, he moved closer, enjoying the scent of his mother's perfume. He hadn't seen her since Simon was born.

"Will you be visiting us long?" Gabriel asked.

"I'll be taking the room next to the nursery," Shirah smiled, holding River close. Soft gray eyes were staring up at her in wonder and trust. "Fire the nanny. Or I will call upon Matriarchal Law."

Gabriel's mouth opened before he nodded. It would crush Reagan to lose her child so soon after the birthing bed. Especially if River was taken by his mother.

"Now, Gabriel." Shirah shook her head as her son hurried from the room. "Your father is a boob River." Shirah shifted the tiny infant in her arms, walking to the window with her as she tucked the blanket around River's form. "So many men are, it is known."

River answered with a tiny yawn.

"I couldn't agree more."


	3. Chapter 3

The she-cub was very quiet, very careful, and very concious of the things around her. She was hunting, prowling in the shadows as her prey sat in the grass, unaware of her existence.

"I can hear you breathing."

River pouted, popping her head up from behind the hedge. Grandmother could never be surprised, then again, Shirah Tam was much older and her senses bettr trained. The six year old clambered over the hedge to sit in front of the furyan. Her dress made a tearing sound, a seam ripping in the lining of her skirt. Regan was attempting to inhibit her training in favor of another sort. Attempting to turn a she-cub into a doll, teaching her the delicate dance instead of the death dance.

"I can't pass your test if you keep changing the rules," River scowled.

"There are no rules to combat," Shirah looked up from her book. The Book of Knowing was an ancient tome, passed through family lines.

"I can think of three right now," River leaned forward to look at the words. She hadn't learned High Furyan yet, but she would. "Don't die, stick them with the pointy end, kill them first."

Grandmother laughed, rich and throaty as she pulled River to sit on her lap. River adjusted herself to sit in the hollow between Shirah's folded legs, relaxing into the woman's chest and allowing the faint scent of jungles and sand to comfort her. The book was set in front of her as Shirah's lips came in contact with her temple.

"I suppose that is the gist of it," Shirah flipped to the first page of the book. "Show me the symbols you know."

"I want to sit with you," River burrowed down deeper. "You've been gone."

A breath ruffled her hair and her grandmother's lips rested against her scalp for a moment. Arms wrapped around her and for a few moments, they just sat, enjoying the sunlight and warmth within the conservatory. The scent of flowers and what could only be described as Green floated around them in the humid air. Calm, peaceful, River could pretend she and her grandmother had gone someplace safe and secret. She could pretend Shirah was her mother instead of Regan.

"Where have you been?" River asked a few moments later. Their heartbeats had fallen in sync with one another.

"I've been talking to someone," she ran fingers through River's hair. "He's very far from us, and all alone."

Shirah never truly left, but there were times when her body would enter a self induced coma, her heart would slow to a crawl, an echo of slowed time and the sprits in her veins would shimmer bright and blue just beneath the surface. In these times, River was kept away for her own safety. The beast was too close to her grandmother's skin and she was too old to be considered a child. River was a threat now.

"Is he sad?"

"A little bit, a little bit scared too, like all men. But he's also very brave. He's very strong and smart, and very independent." The last bit amused her grandmother. "One day, you'll see for yourself."

"How do you know?" River turned to look at her grandmother. Shirah's eyes were twinkling with amusement, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Because I said so." Shirah turned her head back to the book. "Now, tell me which symbols you recognize."


	4. Chapter 4

"I ams o proud of you my Little One."

River smiled into the braids of her grandmere, smiling wide as Shirah held her tightly. Finally, after so many long hours, River had managed to gain first blood on her grandmother. The dance of Fury was as much a part of her as the Spirits singing in her veins. As much as the ballet her mother insisted upon. A dance of blood and pain and beauty. River could never be the furyan her grandmother was. She was a new beast.

"It wasn't traditional," River breathed out, unable to hide the smile upon her face. I had to blend Giselle with the Villinka style."

"You aren't traditional," Shirah smiled, running a hand through River's braids. She kept one between her fingers, simple, unadorned unlike her grandmother's own. "Tradition is as much a gift as it is a burden. There may come a day, when you will take your own trophies, then again, the day may come when a man presents you with an offering."

"He will," River titled her head confidently. "He'd better."

~!~

Okay, I know, many of you are more than likely asking "WTF?" All I can tell you is I'm on a brief hiatus due to computer issues. My laptop is in the shop right now and I didn't think to transfer over the files needed to update my fics before handing it over. It was making this bizarre grinding, growling noise. But! Safe is very nearly complete and I can promise you that River and Riddick will meet on Jiangyin. Also, Giselle is a ballet with a beautifully sad, slightly vampiric storyline and little creatures called Willi, or, Villi, if you're german.


	5. Chapter 5

"Grandmother...what if I don't like him?"

Shirah paused. It had been a normal afternoon, she was grooming River, both mentally and physically, telling her of what He was expecting and what He needed to be told.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...what if he like peppermint?"

"Ah, well, that is where compromise comes in." Shirah continued running through brush through River's hair once again. "It is true that we make the choices, but we must also make the choice to be partners. The is one thing your parents are doing right." Shirah's brush paused. "I am sorry you did not meet your grandfather. He was my favorite consort. My companion in the hunt, my partner in the dance, and he absolutely adored pickled fish."

River giggled in her lap. Pickled fish were no laughing matter. They were disgusting and had no place in the house, much less on the dinner table. Shirah smiled with her grandchild; a child could laugh about something that had nearly ended her marriage.

"Eventually we came to an agreement. He could not keep sneaking about doing as he enjoyed while I did what I wished regardless. It wasn't fair to either of us." Shirah began to part River's hair into braids, hundreds upon hundreds would crown her as a warrior, one day in the distance. Her trophies would clink and ring next to her consort's, and everyone would know her. "We sat down one night and bared ourselves to one another. Completely. Our spirits sang together for the first time."

"So..."

"Do not take your clothes off until he has delivered his final gift,"


End file.
